Thermtrack

Thermitrack camera quick-start guide for Windows PC users

This guide assumes the thermitrack camera is in its factory-default configuration, and
you have a suitable camera connecting cable, e.g. the one supplied in the quick-start
kits. If you don't, please refer to the installation guide for cabling information.

1) Plug one end of the camera cable into the rear of the camera, ensuring it is plugged
fully home as shown below.
(The camera does not need to be removed from its mounting base, but it may be slightly
easier to get the connector in if you do remove the base).

Place the camera lens-upwards on the desk, and remove the protective sticker from the
lens if present.

2a) If using the USB Interface:

Download the USB drivers from the resources page, and
unzip them into a folder on your PC.

Connect the other end of the camera cable to the USB interface, and connect the
USB interface to the PC with teh supplied USB cable. (Due to the power draw, it should be
connected to a USB port on the PC or a powered hub - an unpowered hub is unlikely to be
able to supply sufficient power.)

Windows should then pop up a driver installation screen. The exact wording of this
varies between Windows versions so instructions here are generic. Do not select any
'search the internet for a driver' type option. Select the option to load the driver from
a specified location, and point it to the folder where you put the drivers. Note that
It will normally go through the 'install drivers' process twice - point it at the same
folder the second time .

Once installed, you need to check which COM port number has been assigned - you can do
this via Settings-> control panel-> system-> Hardware -> Device Manager ->
Ports (COM and LPT). This should show the Thermitrack USB RS422 interface with its port
number.

The green power LED on the USB interface should now be on. If not this may indicate a
problem with teh USB port supplying enough power.

2b) If using the RS232 interface :

Connect the supplied mains adapter to the socket on the RS232 interface, connect the
camera cable to the interface, and plug the RS232 interface into an available COM port. If
the size of the inteface causes mechanical difficulty, use an RS232 9 way D male-female
extension cable.
Switch on the power supply. The LED on the interface should now be blinking about once
every 2 seconds.

3) Once the driver has installed (USB) or the power supply swutched on (RS232), about
ten seconds later you should see one of the LEDs on the camera flash red 4 times, then
both LEDs flashing red alternately. This shows the camera is warming up and will
continue for about 2 minutes.

4) Run a terminal program, e.g. Hyperterminal. The following instructions assume you
are using Hyperterminal.

Enter an (arbitary) name for the connection.
"Connect using" - set to the COM port Thermitrack is connected to.
Port settings : 115200, Flow Control : None (all other settings leave as default)
In File->Properties->settings ASCII Setup, tick the options 'append line feeds
to incoming line ends' and 'Echo typed characters locally'

5) You should now see something like this on the screen :

S88,01,1
S88,01,1
_

A new line should appear about once every 2 seconds. The first number may be 99,88 or
00 depending on how far the camera is though the warmup process. If the red LEDs are still
flashing, it should show 88.
Once the camera has warmed up (approx 2 minutes), the LEDs will stop flashing and the
display will change to S00,01,1. ( the 00 may be different if the camera can see any
moving objects)

If the camera is not in its factory-default state, you may see more things onscreen -
if so, type ZY<enter>R<enter> to restore default settings and restart .

Start waving your hand in front of the camera .You should now see the data change as
the camera tracks your hand. Note that the actual data will not be very stable or
meaningful as it is not designed to track objects this close.

Here are some examples of things to try. Type T<enter> at any time to stop the
data output.

GA<enter> : Displays a single crude mage in ASCII characters.

TA,4<enter> : Continuously shows ASCII images. Lower numbers will
display faster, but slower PCs may not be able to keep up

TO,2<enter> : Displays tracking data for a single target. ( you may want to
disable the 'append line feeds' setting to make it show on a single line instead of
scrolling.)

6) Once you have confirmed the camera is working, close Hyperterminal, then download,
install and run the TTDEMO PC demo sofware, which allows more extensive access to the
camera's capabilities.
Once TTDEMO has started, select the COM port from the drop-down list at the bottom of the
screen You should then see realtime tracking and image data on the pop-up image window.

See the programming guide for full information on the available commands.